Modern wireless communications devices typically include multiple wireless radios (e.g., Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi, etc.). To achieve a smaller footprint, multiple wireless radios may share the same antenna. For example, a wireless device may include a Bluetooth radio and a Wi-Fi radio coupled to a single antenna. The Bluetooth radio may include a Bluetooth power amplifier to drive (e.g., amplify) outgoing data signals in accordance with one or more Bluetooth standards. The Wi-Fi radio may include a Wi-Fi power amplifier to drive outgoing data signals in accordance with one or more IEEE 802.11 standards. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios typically operate on the 2.4 GHz frequency band, and may share an antenna to transmit signals to other wireless devices and/or to receive signals from other wireless devices.
Power transmission efficiency may depend upon how closely matched the load impedance of a power amplifier is relative to the impedance that the power amplifier is able to efficiently drive. Bluetooth power amplifiers may be configured to operate in several different power modes (e.g., a high power mode, a low power mode, and an ultra-low power mode). Wi-Fi power amplifiers are typically operated at higher power levels than Bluetooth power amplifiers, for example, because Wi-Fi signals are typically transmitted at higher power levels than Bluetooth signals. As a result, Wi-Fi power amplifiers and Bluetooth power amplifiers may have different configurations, different operating characteristics, and/or different operating points, and may be optimized for power transmission efficiency by different load impedances.
For wireless devices including a Wi-Fi power amplifier and a Bluetooth power amplifier that share the same output load, it may be difficult to configure the output load in a manner that optimizes power transmission efficiency for both the Wi-Fi power amplifier and the Bluetooth power amplifier. Further, for wireless devices in which an antenna is shared between the Wi-Fi power amplifier and the Bluetooth power amplifier, it may be difficult to ensure reliability of the Bluetooth power amplifier when the Wi-Fi power amplifier is transmitting (e.g., because the Wi-Fi power amplifier typically drives Wi-Fi signals at higher power levels than the power levels to which the Bluetooth power amplifier drives Bluetooth signals).
Thus, there is a need to dynamically configure and/or dynamically adjust one or more settings of the shared output load in a manner that optimizes the power transmission efficiency for both the Wi-Fi power amplifier and the Bluetooth power amplifier and that ensures reliability of the Bluetooth power amplifier when the Wi-Fi power amplifier is transmitting.